I have begun writing a book! At this point I only have 8 pages written but I don't see an end in sight to the words pouring out of me. It was inspired by reading The World According to Garp. Half way through I realized just how many insights I was gaining about this person and men in general. There is a noticeable lack of a real woman's perspective in it and I thought that it would be a good exercise to write a woman's account of life. I'm particularly focused on all of the various types of relationships between men and women - father/daughter, step-father/daughter, lovers, polyamory, monogamy, platonic encounters, and how I've experienced these, what informs my point of view and why. I want to try to stay away from criticizing or generalizing anything because I think the best way to influence people is simply to share an experience. I don't want the book to be an autobiography, so I've been writing down everything that comes to mind about my life and those around me but will eventually twist it all into something more fictional, but believable and hopefully relatable. Part of what's exciting about this is dreaming up things that I would like to have done with my life and fitting details into that.

A primary reason why I've chosen to write this is because I've been noticing more and more lately just how sexist this world still is, towards both men and women. The world definitely needs more women to be vocal about their life experiences if anything is to change. A poignant moment for me recently was in a discussion about equality in the workplace. I felt such a sense of relief when a male friend wholeheartedly accepted the feminist argument - I got a glimpse of what things should be like, and realized how often they are not. I had been expecting a rebuttal of disagreement because that is what I often get when trying to express my point of view. Things often turn into a war of the sexes because there is such a lack of understanding between one another. Perhaps there are already a ton of books out there documenting personal experiences, but I doubt one more will hurt. Hopefully something I write will strike a chord with many people and we can all get along a bit more easily.